


It's all that they've ever known

by Karina



Category: Oasis (Band)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-07-26
Updated: 2010-07-26
Packaged: 2017-10-10 19:46:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,654
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/103604
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Karina/pseuds/Karina
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Written from Gem's point of view.<br/>Liam and Noel get their pictures taken by a paparazzi and it's up to Gem and Andy to stop the pictures from getting published. Meanwhile, Gem realises how he feels about Andy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	It's all that they've ever known

  


     When Andy and I joined the band, it was right after two members quit, and then later on, Alan got sacked. Yet it’s unbelievable that we’ve never broken up. When I heard that Bonehead and Guigsy quit, I thought that Noel was going to disband Oasis, but that didn’t happen. Now, we have to keep a secret about the Gallagher brothers’ relationship to ensure the band’s future, after years of casting an eye of suspicion about it.

 

     They both hated the tabloids ruthlessly, so they would try to craft a public image that was different than the reality. They didn’t give a shit whether the tabloids took pictures of their families or of them fighting. But they were afraid of the paparazzi taking pictures of them snogging, or even worse, fondling each other in public or having sex---especially if the pictures were going to be in The Sun or the Daily Mail. What would be even more of a nightmare to them would be if such pictures or news made it to the Beeb (BBC). It would be dangerous enough to have people openly questioning their sexuality, and even fooking deadly for people to know about their ‘brotherly love’. Some of the things they do can be explained with the excuse that they’re very close brothers; which they are, but some of their actions cannot be explained with that. Once, I encountered Noel’s so-called ‘girlfriend’ asking him why he was holding hands with Liam at an airport---she specifically was showing him the actual picture. He simply answered that they had done so as children, and that they would still sometimes hold hands as adults. She ended the conversation by threatening that if she ever saw them doing anything beyond that, she was going to believe that both of the brothers were absolutely out of their minds. Noel merely shrugged at her, apparently not giving a fuck. He could stand losing her---but he couldn’t stand losing Liam.

 

     Liam and Noel had been out to watch a football match at the stadium one evening, (Liam even messaged me about it, and the message said, “Me and our kid Noel are gonna go to the Man City-Liverpool match together. As much as The Beatles were a top band from Liverpool, we hope to see that Mancunians like us are better at football than those Scousers”) and I was at Andy’s house. He invited me over to have a chat with him and maybe have some tea. I attempted to start an entirely new conversation with him.

‘I’ve been thinking about Liam and Noel’s relationship lately...,’ I started, after putting down my teacup.

‘And?’ Andy asked me, anticipating me to get to my point.

‘I realise that at this point, they’re not just brothers; they’re also soulmates. But I wonder whether I’ve found my soulmate,’ I said.

‘You’re not happy in your relationship?’ Andy sympathetically asked me, as he poured me some more tea.

I paused for a minute to look at his face---he hadn’t been growing his beard lately, which gave his face a different look. He was, well, honestly, quite handsome.

‘Er, well, I guess I’m a bit confused. Maybe I don’t know what true happiness is.’

Andy smiled warmly at me and said, ‘So you fancy someone else?’

‘I don’t know; maybe yes, and maybe no,’ I teasingly replied, trying not reveal my true feelings to Andy.

‘Seems like you want to keep a secret…’ he replied to my answer.

‘We already are keeping a secret about Noel and Liam,’ I wittily reminded him.

Andy chuckled at me gently, and he flashed me a smile.

‘I meant that you are acting secretive about yourself. But I’ll find out anyway.’

My thoughts froze for a moment and I told myself to calm down, or Andy will notice that I’m acting awkward.

‘How’ll you find out?’ I casually teased him.

‘I’m no psychic, but I’ve been in the same band as you for quite a while now. I don’t know you as much as Liam and Noel know each other, but I think I can read your thoughts sometimes,’ Andy winked at me, as he put his arms around me.

 

     Just as we were continuing our conversation, I received another message from Liam, and it said something like this:

“Shite, man! Our kid and I were nearly stalked by the fooking paparazzi. I think he took some pictures of us---I don’t know how many, although when we chased him, a few pics fell out of his pocket---must have been those Polaroid cameras---and we managed to pick some of them up.”

Andy must have realised that something was not quite right, and he peered over my phone, as he caught a glimpse of the message.

‘What’s wrong?’ he asked in a gentle voice.

‘Liam and Noel got their pictures taken by the paparazzi, and they’ve managed to get a hold of a few. But I don’t want the paparazzi to stalk them to get the pictures back, though,’ I told him

‘Tell them to come here to show us the pictures…then we can talk about what should happen next,’ he suggested to me.

I nodded to his suggestion, and began to send another message to Liam.

“Liam, can you and Noel come to Andy’s house? I’m there too, and maybe we can track down the paparazzi and really show him what will happen if those pictures get to the press. PS- We’re worried that the paparazzi will stalk both of you to get the pics back.”

As I was messaging Liam, I felt Andy’s hand on my shoulders. What the hell was he going to do?

‘You seem so nervous, Gem. Or are you so nervous about Liam and Noel? Come on, relax.’

His voice seemed to have a bit of confidence in it, as if he could read what I was thinking.

It was very calming to me, and before I reply to him, he started massaging my shoulders.

‘It’s going to be OK, Gem. We’ll cooperate with Noel and Liam to make sure those pics don’t get in the press. Just relax, and forget about your worries for now,’ he continued.

Was he aware of how I felt towards him? If so, was he just taking the piss and mocking me? Or did he feel the same?

Yet my questions remained unanswered as I began to relax, and minutes later, the doorbell rang---it was Noel and Liam.

Andy got up to greet them, and I followed Andy to the door.

‘How was the match?’ Andy asked.

‘Man City won 2-1 over Liverpool. The match was good, but some fuckwit paparazzi were chasing us, and he was taking pictures of us sharing our drinks and snogging,’ Noel replied.

‘So where are the pictures that fell out of the bloke’s pocket?’ I asked them.

‘Noel’s got them,’ Liam pointed to Noel, who took out a few Polaroid pictures from his own pocket.

‘Let’s go to the sofa to discuss this,’ Andy remarked, and guided us to the sofa.

‘You and Gem had tea?’ Liam asked curiously.

‘Liam, what does it look like?’ asked Noel.

‘Just asking man, just asking.’

I couldn’t help but smile at their conversation---I secretly wished that Andy and I would be able to do that as affectionately as the Gallagher brothers.

 

     Noel handed us the pictures, and there were three pictures that they managed to pick up. The first picture was of them sharing a drink, and the next two were of them French kissing at the stadium.

‘Why are you so afraid of these snogging pictures being in the media? Haven’t similar pictures been in the media before?’ I asked Liam.

Noel replied before Liam could, but it didn’t matter. They understood each other more than anyone could know about anybody.

‘But these were taken when we were on a proper date! This was our private time together! You know all those shit tabloids that chase after celebrities during their dates just to be so fucking nosy? I mean, it’s like as if none of those paparazzi can get a decent mate, so all they do is chase after celebrities!’ Noel wailed to us.

Liam nodded, as he gave a slight peck on Noel’s cheek.

Andy thought for several minutes---we didn’t know what to say or do, so the rest of us just waited until Andy finally spoke up.

‘I’ve got an idea…but I’m going to need everyone else to cooperate. Liam, Noel, do you have info about the paparazzi---like what the number plate said on his car, or any hints about his identity? Have you ever seen him before?’

Noel then picked up the third photo from the table, and stared at the back of it.

‘What’s this phone number on the back?’ he wondered aloud.

Liam shrugged and said, ‘Why the hell would the bloke be so daft to write his phone number on the back?’

‘It doesn’t matter…maybe it’s a precaution he took if he lost these pics, which he did, in the end.’

‘I dunno…what if that isn’t his phone number?’ Liam asked, looking a bit worried if Andy’s idea would actually work.

‘We should at least try it,’ Noel replied, as he tightly held on to Liam’s hand.

‘I’m not going to say that I’m Andy Bell, all right? I’ll just say that I was attending the football match, and that I found those pictures,’ Andy told us.

Andy then took out his mobile phone, and we held our breaths.

He grabbed the photo, examined the phone number, and carefully but slowly started to dial the number.

 

     ‘Hello?’ Andy said, as he heard a man with a slight Cockney accent at the end of the line.

‘Yeah? May I ask who you are?’

‘Er, I was just at the stadium watching the Man City-Liverpool match with me girlfriend, and eh, it seems you’ve dropped some pictures…they appear to be two men kissing,’ Andy said.

‘I’d like those back…you see, that’s my job. To take pictures of celebrities. Do you know who they are? I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw those two kissing, you know?’ the Cockney paparazzi continued.

‘I don’t care who they are…I’d like to give these pictures back,’ Andy sternly replied.

‘OK, meet me tomorrow afternoon at 3 PM at the park near the stadium. Bring the pictures with you, but don’t lose them or drop them.’

‘All right,’ Andy replied, and he gave us a smirk.

‘It was the paparazzi bloke, all right. I’m supposed to meet him at the nearest park to that stadium and bring the pictures, but Gem, you’re coming with me.’

Liam and Noel looked at each other, and exchanged puzzled looks.

Andy waved his hand at both of them and said, ‘You two needn’t worry about anything. We’ll take care of it. Is that right, Gem?’

He winked at me, and I blinked a few times, startled by how he was starting to look like he was flirting with me.

‘Yeah, we’ll take care of it,’ I told the other three.

 

     The next day, I met Andy at his house again, and this time it wasn’t to have tea---it was to make sure the pictures of Liam and Noel on a date weren’t going to be leaked anywhere. But what exactly were Andy’s plans? Was he intending on buying the pictures, or was he going to threaten to the bloke to not use the pictures? I had no idea what was going to happen, and I was bit scared because Andy did not reveal his identity when he was talking on the phone. I honestly had no choice but to trust him and go along with his plans. Or rather, his secret plan.

 

     We managed to get to the park, and there was a bloke who did indeed look paparazzi-ish. We both were wearing sunglasses, but we knew we probably couldn’t get away with that, so we took off our sunglasses. ‘Do you recognise us?’ I asked the paparazzi, who was stunned speechless at us.

‘Yeah, Andy Bell and Gem Archer, the other two members of the band. Shit! You mean I was talking to one of you on the phone? So the entire band went to the match?’ he stuttered.

‘I’m not answering that. In fact, we want this picture more than you do,’ Andy calmly and coolly replied.

‘Why? That’s my work, you know.’

‘How many quid would you want in exchange for this?’ I quickly asked.

‘Huh? You’re asking me to sell it?’ he blurted out.

‘What good does it do to you to have this pic, Mr Paparazzi? If you sell this to some rubbish tabloid, our band would be ruined. You wouldn’t be able to enjoy our tunes anymore. No one would buy the records anymore, because they’d look at those two in disgust. Or, they might be in denial and accuse you of modifying the picture with a computer, and hence, you could lose your job and credibility,’ Andy said, and he pulled out his wallet.

‘I can give you £500 for these three pictures…we can keep our jobs, you don’t have to worry about explaining these pics to the world, and you don’t have to worry about losing your job.’

Andy paused for a second to let the paparazzi think about the situation.

He then continued and said, ‘Have you got your camera on you?’

The paparazzi looked at us and replied, ‘Yes, but why?’

Suddenly, Andy then turned to me and forced a kiss on my lips…I had no time to react properly, and I struggled for breath as his tongue entered my mouth.

After the French kiss that seemed like an eternity, Andy turned to the paparazzi and said,

‘You could take a picture of us instead of them to sell to the rubbish tabloids. No one would give a shit if we did that.’

The bloke simply shook his head in disgust at our kiss---meanwhile, I was still embarrassed and shocked at what happened. Had Andy known everything I thought about him?

‘You sick freaks…first it’s brotherly love that’s clearly gone too far. And now even the other two are poofs?’

I smirked at the paparazzi.

Andy gave him the wad of cash, as the paparazzi reluctantly accepted it.

‘You better keep your mouth shut about the Gallagher brothers,’ I warned him.

‘I probably will, because that kind of shit makes me want to vomit, so I won’t be able to speak anyway,’ he replied, with a disapproving look on his face.

 

     We both went back to Andy’s house afterwards, and I asked him about the kiss.

‘So you knew all along I fancied you?’

‘I’m not bloody blind, Gem.’

‘Was that kiss just a piss-take on my feelings?’ I worriedly asked.

He turned to me and said, ‘No.’

‘Should we tell Liam and Noel?’ I asked him.

‘Maybe, but they might be too enamoured with each other to even notice,’ Andy laughed gently.

‘Come on, they’re not that blind.’

Andy put his hand around my waist and tightly hugged me, replying, ‘I know. I think you are like a soulmate to me, Gem.’

I frowned at the word ‘soulmate’.

‘How could you know that yet?’

‘I just have a feeling….we’re not like Liam and Noel, because that’s all they’ve ever known, you know. They only knew how to truly love and appreciate each other. We may not have a blood bond, but we do have a bond,’ Andy told me.

‘You wrote the phrase, “Dig out your soul”, Andy. I think we are a band that really understands the meaning of that,’ I added, as we both kissed again. This time, it wasn’t sudden, and it wasn’t in front of some stunned paparazzi.

  



End file.
